Condon: 'It’s crazy. I don’t know how to describe it.'

• Perth-born Florida Gators centre Alex Condon makes biggest play of National Championship game
• Condon, 20, is a projected 2025 first round NBA Draft pick
• Condon scored 12 points and grabbed seven rounds in Florida's two-point win against Houston

Australian Alex Condon — NCAA Men's National Champion yesterday and, today, a projected NBA first round draft pick.

It's been an extraordinary 24 hours for the Perth-born 20-year-old centre. True to his AFL roots — Condon is a category B Collingwood prospect — the 211cm dived headlong on a loose ball in the last seconds to seal the National Championship 65-63 for the Florida Gators against the Houston Cougars on April 8, 2025.

"It was a crazy last sequence," Condon told CBS Sports.

"Walter (Clayton Jr) did a great job of closing him out and making him [Houston's Emanuel Sharp] dribble it.

"It was a smart play by him not to pick it up because it would have been a travel.

"But as soon as I realised I dived as hard as could to try and get it.

“It’s crazy. I don’t know how to describe it.

"We’re going to celebrate. It’s a special team.

"I love every single person on this team. It’s crazy."

The dust has barely settled and Condon has now been a projected first round draft pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.

ESPN's NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony has Sophomore Condon at pick 29, heading to the Phoenix Suns via the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Givony writes: "Condon didn't have the best NCAA tournament. He was hampered by an ankle injury and struggled at times with his lack of offensive polish and the physicality of some of the bigger front courts he encountered. Still, his excellent feel for the game was evident with the way he passes and plugs gaps defensively off the ball, as well as his nonstop intensity. He ultimately helped Florida win the national championship, making some important plays in timely moments.

"He will need to weigh the option of returning for his junior season with a possible spot in the late first or early second round, depending on how he fares in the predraft process. A team such as the Suns, who are shallow in the frontcourt, need to improve defensively and already have established scoring options, could have interest. Still, it might not be easy for him to gauge his standing by the May 28 withdrawal deadline."

Condon made an immediate impact in the final, hammering down a two-handed dunk and running the floor hard to put pressure on the Cougars' bigs.

Condon finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals. His four turnovers came primarily on travels in the Gators' dribble handoffs and under intense pressure from Houston.

But he arguably had the play of the game, diving on a loose ball that sealed the third National Championship for the Gators and denying the Cougars their first in front of an incredible 66,602 fans in San Antonio, Texas.

LSU's Last-Tear Poa was the last Australian to win a National Championship. Poa cut the net down with the Tigers in 2023. The Australian men's player to appear in the Big Dance was Luke Schenscher for Georgia Tech 21 years ago. Georgia was beaten by Connecticut 82-73.

How Alex Condon made the biggest play of the National Championship game